For many years, planetary science has been taught as part of theastronomy curriculum, from a very physics-based perspective, and fromthe framework of a tour of the Solar System - body by body. Over thepast decades, however, spacecraft exploration and related laboratoryresearch on extraterrestrial materials have given us a new understandingof planets and how they are shaped by geological processes. Based on acourse taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this is thefirst textbook to focus on geologic processes, adopting a comparativeapproach that demonstrates the similarities and differences betweenplanets, and the reasons for these. Profusely illustrated, and with awealth of pedagogical features, this book provides an ideal capstonecourse for geoscience majors - bringing together aspects of mineralogy,petrology, geochemistry, volcanology, sedimentology, geomorphology,tectonics, geophysics and remote sensing.